"Appeared to be in pain"??? I'm in pain every day. Gee, I hope Mr. M doesn't get out the .38.

Logged

I have decided to officially and formally not apologize. I'm not sorry at all, even slightly.

Indeed, I especially want to convey my absence of remorse to anyone who was offended by what I said. If you are the sort of person who gets twisted into knots when someone articulates a point of view that differs from your own, then you are exactly the sort of person who should never receive an apology for a differing point of view â€” if I were offering one, which, again, I'm not.

Oceander

From the article, she was responding to treatment. I wonder what he was thinking?

I doubt if he was thinking - certainly he wasn't sitting back and contemplating everything coolly and rationally - after all, he's 68 y.o., not a doctor, and believed he was watching his wife of 45 years die in voiceless pain.

Oceander

"Appeared to be in pain"??? I'm in pain every day. Gee, I hope Mr. M doesn't get out the .38.

"seemed to be responding to treatment" - it would seem (pardon the pun) that the doctors had the same level of knowledge about Mrs. Wise's condition as did her husband. That leaves the question of who had the right belief somewhat up in the air.

I'm not justifying what he did, nor arguing that he should not have been convicted, but I am trying to humanize his actions to emphasize the tragedy inherent in something like this.

Our government wants us dead the sooner the better and I guess this husband also felt this way. I am so glad I am not married anymore I don't need more than one source deciding when I should die. The best part of my life was after 40 when my children were almost out of the house and there was money to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to. Anyone saying 18 through 40 begins and ends life has not reached 40 yet or gave up on life way to early. I think that most people look their best in their 40's and could be due to a lot less stress shows on their face because most have figured out life and aren't under the pressure to keep succeeding as you are in the earlier years. Pain is a part of life I have had my fair share and am glad no one decided for me to end my life due to it. I have been on the critical list 4 times and each time eventually got off of it and back into good health.

As an aside, my nearly 71-year-old widowed sister-in-law is visiting right now. She has convinced herself that she's already in the early stages of dementia, apparently. She also has convinced herself that her late father had dementia or Alzheimers, but Mr. M and I saw him a lot more than she did - several times a week - and he had nothing of the sort. She's sure she's right.

Nevertheless, last night she discussed the book "Still Alice" and raised the subject of killing herself "when the time comes." She asked whether we'd try to interfere. She said she's already had this talk with her sons and close friends. As a big Obama supporter, perhaps she should just call Dr. Emanuel and have him take care of it for her.

Logged

I have decided to officially and formally not apologize. I'm not sorry at all, even slightly.

Indeed, I especially want to convey my absence of remorse to anyone who was offended by what I said. If you are the sort of person who gets twisted into knots when someone articulates a point of view that differs from your own, then you are exactly the sort of person who should never receive an apology for a differing point of view â€” if I were offering one, which, again, I'm not.

As an aside, my nearly 71-year-old widowed sister-in-law is visiting right now. She has convinced herself that she's already in the early stages of dementia, apparently. She also has convinced herself that her late father had dementia or Alzheimers, but Mr. M and I saw him a lot more than she did - several times a week - and he had nothing of the sort. She's sure she's right.

Nevertheless, last night she discussed the book "Still Alice" and raised the subject of killing herself "when the time comes." She asked whether we'd try to interfere. She said she's already had this talk with her sons and close friends. As a big Obama supporter, perhaps she should just call Dr. Emanuel and have him take care of it for her.

Dad made me promise - back when I were 16 - that if he was ever totally helpless, through either dementia or life support, that I'd pull the plug on him. The thought of existing without living horrifies him, though pain doesn't bother him in the slightest.

He's got a living will, one which states that he is to be rated DNR during any hospital procedures, and he makes sure the doctors (he's gone under the knife twice recently) have not only read his living will, but signed a witnessed statement agreeing to abide by it.

Will I do it? I don't honestly know. He thinks I will and expects I will if needed, which makes him happy.

Dad made me promise - back when I were 16 - that if he was ever totally helpless, through either dementia or life support, that I'd pull the plug on him. The thought of existing without living horrifies him, though pain doesn't bother him in the slightest.

He's got a living will, one which states that he is to be rated DNR during any hospital procedures, and he makes sure the doctors (he's gone under the knife twice recently) have not only read his living will, but signed a witnessed statement agreeing to abide by it.

Will I do it? I don't honestly know. He thinks I will and expects I will if needed, which makes him happy.

There is a big difference between being a DNR and assisted suicide. My mother was a DNR and after her first stroke, she awoke in the hospital, gave me "Go to hell, you KNOW better than this" look, and proceeded to rip out her IV, O2 mask, and everything else she was plugged in to. It took her preacher, a family friend RN, who weighed about 300#, and myself to hold her down. After three shots of morphine, she finally calmed down. While she was paralyzed on her right side, she lived another 1 1/2, at home, until the second one got her. Then I had to override my brother's wishes to keep her hospitalized. We took her home.

As an aside, my nearly 71-year-old widowed sister-in-law is visiting right now. She has convinced herself that she's already in the early stages of dementia, apparently. She also has convinced herself that her late father had dementia or Alzheimers, but Mr. M and I saw him a lot more than she did - several times a week - and he had nothing of the sort. She's sure she's right.

Nevertheless, last night she discussed the book "Still Alice" and raised the subject of killing herself "when the time comes." She asked whether we'd try to interfere. She said she's already had this talk with her sons and close friends. As a big Obama supporter, perhaps she should just call Dr. Emanuel and have him take care of it for her.

Did your sister-in-law drive to visit you? Forgetting how to get to where you want to go is one of the first signs. It's like losing your keys, and not being able to find them. Most of us can retrace our steps and eventually find them. Those with dementia can't. Another sign is forgetting what we went to the grocery to get. I forgot a lot, but eventually remember. People with dementia don't remember. When we get older, it's not so much that we are forgetful, but it just takes longer to retrieve.

Simple questions can give you a hint if the person might have Alzheimer's. Ask them the day, month, and year. You can also ask them to spell the word, "world" backwards. Also, if they have ever played the card game, solitaire, have them play it, and see how they do.

Alzheimer's is a disease that affects each individual differently. Your sister-in-law should ask the pharmacy to check her meds, providing she is taking any. Many medicines cause memory loss. I suspected my husband had Alzheimer's, in part, because I worked with dementia patients all day. I took him to a neurologist to verify it.

If someone wants to leave the party early, why the Hell are people trying to stop them? The thimble minded would claim it's an attempt to get at Aunt Mildred's cash. There are others who believe a person's life is not their own, a possession of a great train conductor in the sky. Me? I just don't want to listen to the whining.

happy, my s-i-l flew to see us and I see no evidence whatsoever that she has Alzheimers or any form of dementia. She was dead wrong about her father having dementia, and he lived to 89. As my father had - and died from - Alzheimers, I think I'm pretty attuned to it. I don't know what's going on in her head (apart from liberalism, a known mental disorder), but it doesn't appear to be dementia!

Logged

I have decided to officially and formally not apologize. I'm not sorry at all, even slightly.

Indeed, I especially want to convey my absence of remorse to anyone who was offended by what I said. If you are the sort of person who gets twisted into knots when someone articulates a point of view that differs from your own, then you are exactly the sort of person who should never receive an apology for a differing point of view â€” if I were offering one, which, again, I'm not.

happy, my s-i-l flew to see us and I see no evidence whatsoever that she has Alzheimers or any form of dementia. She was dead wrong about her father having dementia, and he lived to 89. As my father had - and died from - Alzheimers, I think I'm pretty attuned to it. I don't know what's going on in her head (apart from liberalism, a known mental disorder), but it doesn't appear to be dementia!

It sounds like she's not accepting old age gracefully. She needs a trip through an Alzheimer's unit. How miserable it must be to be so negative.

My mother had me make her a promise should the day come if she was in the hospital and couldn't live without a machine, to un-hook it. Well the day came. She had been in a coma for 2 months. The doctor told me the next day they were going to take her off of a machine and see if she could breath on her own. It was hell waiting for that next day. She didn't need a machine and woke up. The nurses and doctors couldn't believe it. They came to visit mom from all over the hospital to see her.

She had been up and around for a few days and I told her I was ready to take her off the machine like she asked me. She turned to me and said...NO don't ever do that. It was funny she also told us she could hear us while she was out. She asked about a friend of mines daughter who was going to go do something who came to visit mom and talked to mom while she was out. We used to all talk to her like she was alert. She asked how it turned out. It was wild.

Moms doctor also told her one of the last times she saw him that she had dementia. Mom didn't have dementia she had memory all the time. He had been her doctor for years and during his last years was a real bitter man. He ended up killing himself 9 years ago.

Loneliness? That can be a bugger if she has no one to talk to most days.

Don't know. She has good friends, sons, dogs, she occasionally dates, etc. I think her problem is more spiritual than physical or emotional, to be honest.

Logged

I have decided to officially and formally not apologize. I'm not sorry at all, even slightly.

Indeed, I especially want to convey my absence of remorse to anyone who was offended by what I said. If you are the sort of person who gets twisted into knots when someone articulates a point of view that differs from your own, then you are exactly the sort of person who should never receive an apology for a differing point of view â€” if I were offering one, which, again, I'm not.